Round 2: I Got The Magic Stick vs. Patty’s Boys

Mary Van Tyne

Two members of Patty's Boys have been to the Pro Tour before, with Bradley Sherman being the sole member without Pro Tour experience. The members of I've Got The Magic Stick (Jamie Parke, Mike Lucarello, Eric Phillips) also have some Pro Tour experience, but haven't really done anything notable lately. "I've been finishing up school – I'm the president of my fraternity right now, so that's been keeping me very busy," Jamie says. "I'm trying to stay in school as long as I can."

Game 1

Adam Prosak takes some early board control with a Glory Seeker and an Astral Slide. Jamie answers with Wirewood Savage, and Berserk Murlodont joins him shortly after. Adam Shocks Jamie's Krosan Vorine and Pacifies the Murlodont, shutting him down almost entirely. Jamie keeps things going with more and more Beasts, as Adam scoops his cards up and says, "That wasn't very fun."

Apologies, but this game went so fast it was hard to follow!

Things look pretty slow in the middle seat as Bradley leads with Severed Legion. It's a slow battle between two black decks as Mike plays Death's Head Buzzard and Corpse Harvester. These black-based decks seem to be setting themselves up for a few long, drawn-out games.

Bradley seems to have the advantage, though, with a Sootfeather Flock and an unidentified morph creature. But both he and Mike are just playing out creatures, taking a few nibbles and pecks here, nothing huge materializing just yet even though they both have tons of land. Finally, Bradley has a breakthrough, and casts Choking Tethers to tap Mike's entire side. He attacks with his entire army, and Mike is forced to admit defeat.

Karl Horn opens up with a couple of Forests and an Elvish Warrior. He adds a morph creature to overwhelm Eric's defense, but white decks always seem to have a way of coming through in a pinch. Things are beginning to look grim for Eric, though, as Karl's deck is building offensive momentum like a midget rolling down a hill. However, Eric's found some mountains and a few red creatures and is fighting back in the best way that he can.

Eric's few red creatures has turned into an all-out red offense, with Sparksmith and Goblin Goon on his side. He then plays a Chartooth Cougar, and Karl's largest creature is a single Wirewood Guardian. Karl's situation looks very grim. Eric has too many red creatures, including Goblin Sharpshooter, and manages to kill Karl's entire board in one single attack phase. Karl reviews his options and concedes.

I Got The Magic Stick 1 – Patty's Boys 0

Game 2

"That was a beautiful curve I saw there," Adam jokes. "You should try and refrain from doing that." Adam leads with a morph creature, while Jamie plays a Wirewood Elf. When he follows up with Explosive Vegetation, Adam asks, "Is this Constructed?" Jamie just grins and plays a Krosan Tusker on his fourth turn.

"Biorhythm, kill me?" Adam jokes. Indeed, his two morph creatures don't seem to have a chance against Jamie's enormous beasts. Adam plays another morph creature, and Jamie throws down another Beast – a Berserk Murlodont. When Jamie shows Adam a Torrent of Fire, Adam picks up his cards. "That was fun – for him," Adam says.

Mike plays the first creature of this game, a Death's-Head Buzzard. It gets killed by a Crown of Suspicion, but both Mike and Bradley play out a blue creature apiece. Mike's army is also entirely flying, though, and Bradley's racing to keep up.

Karl plays Symbiotic Wurm, and after Eric reads it, he says, "Good Lord – you have SEVEN 1/1/guys?" "If he dies," Karl remarks casually. I guess it's easy to be casual when you have the big stick. Eric follows up with Siege-Gang Commander, and then says, "My Sparksmithdoes smash him," feeling a little better about his prospects.

Karl attacks with the Wurm and the Invoker, and Eric blocks said Invoker with the morph creature. Flipping it over, Eric reveals it as Ironfist Crusher. He takes out the Invoker with the Siege-Gang Commander, and Karl says, "There goes my team!"

Karl follows up with Berserk Murlodont, trying to get some offense back after Eric killed all his small elves. He attacks, and Eric is forced to make some horrible blocking decisions. He's at 9 and has no room to wiggle. Eric, making a smart executive decision, plays Form of the Dragon. I didn't know they let Dragons play in Grand Prix tournaments! He follows it up with a Lightning Rift, and must feel much more confident about winning this game now. Karl plays a Wellwisher he's been hanging on to, but Eric kills it with the Siege-Gang Commander.

The tone of this entire game has shifted. What a lucky play by Eric Phillips! He follows it up with a Dive Bomber, but hardly needs to, then adds a Goblin Goon to add insult to the injury. He cycles Solar Blast, then activates Lightning Rift to kill Karl quickly and efficiently. "At least I'm losing to bombs," Karl comments.

I Got The Magic Stick 2 – Patty's Boys 0

Game 3

Mike concedes in order to go get some lunch, leaving Bradley with a win to redeem his team. Way to go, Bradley!